This book was an easy read which I didn’t love but I didn’t hate either. I really liked the structure, in which each chapter took place on Feb 4th of each year between 2003 and 2013. Initially I felt like this structure may mean the character’s lives didn’t feel properly fleshed out. but this wasn’t the case and it actually worked really well. The ending was very cute and satisfying in a rom-com way, but there were a lot of points leading up to it where I found the characters a bit irritating. Though Olivia is likeable overall, there are so many moments of self sabotage that I found myself wanting to just scream at her to be honest multiple times.

A pet peeve which I had with this book was the use of real celebrities within the narrative. None of them play major roles (e.g. Olivia’s best friend and housemate works at different points for both Vera Wang and Shonda Rhimes and so knows lots of celebrities via that), but it happens so frequently that it made me cringe a bit since it felt a bit fan fiction-ish, although obviously none of the main characters are celebrities. This may just be an issue of personal preference though, and it didn’t massively impact my experience of the book.

Overall this wasn’t one of my favourites but was still a fun read to chill out with.

Plot twist ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thanks to netgalley for the ARC copy of this book. i really enjoyed this light hearted romance story. Easy read with al the feelings. I loved how the story evolved around 4 february over 10 years. At first I thought I am not going to be into this but then I just wanted to see what 4 february the next year would give so I just kept on reading. And in Romance I'm a sucker for happy ending. So 4 stars would definitly recomment if you feel like reading a fun light-hearted read.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

All I want to say about this book is that I really think it was fun to write. I mean, this is the type of book someone has to enjoy to write, like a very personal coping mechanism towards life or inner thoughts or anything in-between. Because that's what writing does.
I believe it could've been adjusted with a tad more care and patience though, to be a bit chiselled, because there are certain accuracies that can definitely be looked on, but when they are remedied they make the story much better.

I loved Bethany Turner's last book, Hadley Beckett's Next Dish, so I was very much looking forward to Plot Twist. The premise sounded like a lot of fun, the cover is well-designed, and I was trusting in Turner's, so I was pretty excited when I was selected to receive an ARC of this novel. Unfortunately, Plot Twist didn't quite live up to my expectations.

The premise of the novel, as I said, sounds like a lot of fun, and for the most part, it works. The story follows Olivia Ross, greeting card writer and would-be screenwriter, on the same day over the course of 10 years. Each year, February 4th proves to be 'ironic' and full of coincidences that tend to make the day miserable for Olivia. This single-day-once-a-year chapter setup almost makes the novel feel like a multiple timeline story, but the drawn-out single timeline allows readers to see how Olivia's life has changed (or hasn't) over the past year, which makes the narrative easier to follow. However, 10 years really does feel drawn-out; I think I would've preferred a more detailed account of each day over the course of 5 or 7 years rather than an entire decade. That being said, I did love all the cultural references from the different years.

My biggest complaint about this novel would have to be what I thought was a high level of suspension of disbelief. This wasn't such an issue with Olivia herself--in fact, Olivia's struggles to finish her screenplay and to put others' happiness before her own seemed quite realistic, albeit a bit boring--but more so an issue with Olivia's best friend, Fiona. Yes, I understand Hollywood is a magical place where someone's big break can seemingly come out of nowhere, but Fiona's life seemed charmed to the point of annoyance. Turner does a fairly decent job of showing how Fiona's success is occasionally a point of contention in her relationship with Olivia, but only getting to see said relationship on a single day each year made it hard to know how they worked out their issues.

There were also issues with Olivia's love interest, which I won't name to avoid spoilers, but there were actually a few times where I thought they might not end up together. Although that would've probably been more realistic, I want my light-hearted romances to have a bit of predictability in who ends up with whom, especially when so much of the heroine's angst over 10 years is centered around the same man. Ten years is a long time to keep missing chances with someone, especially when one honest conversation could've changed everything. I understand why Turner chose to have Olivia hide her feelings, but the resulting drama sometimes felt unnecessary, which is never a good thing in my book.

While this book is technically classified as Christian fiction, Turner says that's because the book was published through a Christian publisher and not because of any faith element in the novel. In fact, there is no faith element in the novel at all, which I also found a bit disappointing. I don't need faith and trust in God shoved down my throat in the plot, but after Hadley Beckett, I was expecting at least some level of Christian faith that might've helped Olivia cope with the repeated disappointment of her February 4ths. Readers who are interested in this book and don't realize this is classified as Christian fiction probably won't have a problem with this issue, but it should be noted in case anyone is specifically looking for that plot thread. It's still a clean romance book, just without a Christian element.

Overall, Plot Twist was just an average read for me. Turner does manage to pull off a few decent plot twists (pun intended), especially near the end, but by that point, I was mostly ready for the book to be over. This would not be a book I recommend, especially when I have Hadley Beckett on hand to push at people, but I wouldn't discourage people from reading it if they're looking for a fairly light-hearted chick lit read.

This was the ultimate unrequited love slow burn that I was looking for! Two of my favourite things in contemporary romance and it was done in such a unique way and style, I am so impressed and happy that I got the chance to review this.

The format of the book is unique: every chapter is the same day just a year apart. You get a really good span of time and each chapter is jam packed with what I call the "best parts" of a regular book. I never got bored reading through the chapters because I knew each one would be special. I read this book in less than a day! The writing is thoughtful, brilliant and makes you really cheer for the main characters. I loved Olivia's internal monologue, Fi's never-ending optimism and friendship, and Liam is exactly the type of hero I love in these types of books. The events that occur in each chapter are relatable, dramatic in just the right way, and show true character development that I was very impressed by.

I didn't even notice that this book was categorized as Christian Fiction. In my opinion It's not something that comes through in the book at all. I actually don't like too much steam in my books so I was quite happy with this.

The name of the book should give you some idea of what you're about to read! Liv meets a struggling actor in a coffee shop. They decide to meet in 10 years and Live will have a written something for him to star in. Each chapter is Feb 4 of a year spanning from 2003 to 2013. We get to see what has and hasn't changed in Liv's life and all of her ups and downs. Throughout the decade Liv struggles with finding herself and even lives abroad for a year. If I say anymore, there will be spoilers, so I will leave it with this: Plot Twist was a good read. It was charming and had a cute plot. I think this would make a good movie!

Pub Date: June 14, 2021

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley for my copy.

#PlotTwist #NetGalley

This is such a surprising, twisting, uplifting, entertaining, feel good read! The main character easily resonated with my early thirties when I was struggling screenwriter who was hating her daytime job!
Meet with Olivia Ross who is dreaming of being a scriptwriter, working as a greeting cards writer when the calendar shows us February 4th 2003.

Her path crosses with a struggling actor at a coffee shop and they made a deal: in ten years if they don’t find the love of their lives, they will get marry with each other. Okay, of course I’m kidding! This is not famous Julia Roberts’ romcom. This story is totally another line: Olivia makes a pact with the actor: she’ll finish her script in ten years, they’ll meet at the same coffee shop and the guy will play at her movie. Interesting and very long time commitment for two strangers who barely know each other but it seems like working so good for both of them.

I thought we will witness two different stories: how both of the strangers’ life stories would evolve and how their careers would develop in that time frame but the story is focused on only Olivia: her friendships with Fiona and Liam ( ex boyfriend, longtime friend) her though decisions, her resistance to change, her experiences! She kept a very big secret from her friends that could change everything in their relationship dynamics.

I mostly liked the story and its progression, the conclusion as well. At some parts both Olivia and Fiona are irritating characters. Olivia acted too stubborn, frustrating and selfish about some life changing decisions which made me mad and wanted to scream at her to gather her wits ASAP! Liam was my favorite character and I wanted to give him big hugs.

This is more women’s fiction, friendship story than romance! It was still motivational, entertaining and the writing style is also engaging. The characters could be a little connectable but they were still tolerable.
I’m rounding up 3.5 to 4 lots of writing, self discovery, pain of true friendship, great twisty four stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Olivia meets a man at a coffee shop and they agree to meet ten years later ( Olivia will be 40). The plot is mostly about what happens to her that same day every year until she is to meet him. I will say, I did not see the “plot twist “ coming, and it was a bit of a Letdown, but I did like the ending. A lot of unnecessary angst, and a few things I didn’t like, but overall a good read. Thank you to netgalley for the ARC.

This is a tough review to write without providing any spoilers. After all, it is a plot twist…Suffice it to say that Bethany Turner is the master at writing emotionally charged, jaw dropping scenes. The premise is something different, the same date over the course of ten years, and offers an interesting perspective. I love that this is not a young love romance, rather, it’s offered from the POV of thirty to forty somethings. There is plenty of comedy, pop-culture references and ironies that leave you compelled to turn the page for more. I enjoyed the greeting card lines at the beginning of each chapter as they are creative insights into what is coming. Overall, an all-out enjoyable rom-com that I am happy to recommend to others. I received a complimentary from Thomas Nelson on NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.

A cute and charming story about Olivia who meets a cute stranger at a coffeeshop. Both of them are struggling in their careers. They plan to meet again in exactly 10 years when they have achieve their success. Lots of things happen in 10 years obviously.... Lots of twists clearly as explained in the title. A great romance. :)

Thanks for providing me with this ARC.

*Thank you very much to the the publisher, Bethany Turner, and Netgalley for providing me with a E-ARC of "Plot Twist" in exchange for an honest review. *
So I am unsure how I feel about this book. I liked the plot, but I struggled with the characters. I liked Liv for the most part. (When she wasn't being stupid about Liam). I appreciated the running joke about Ironic. I liked the film references. I did find it hard to believe that Liv had (at one point) 4 guys after her. But Plot Twist did surprise me with some,well,plot twists that I genuinely didn't expect.

This story is so charming! The writing is so unique and it took me a bit to adjust to, but I ended up really liking her style.
I thought the description was a cute romantic comedy and I really enjoyed the story!

This book is hard to review without spoilers so... **spoilers**

This was very cute from the start, but not what I was expecting. I think I was expecting a two-sided tale from the perspective of the other individual that Olivia meets and their separate stories across a decade and how they eventually made it back to one another. This book is mainly about Olivia and her decade and her journey to love and work ambitions across the ten years. Olivia as a character was very frustrating, she doubts herself and essentially gets in her own way at every turn. I wish she were less annoying at times, because ten years is a long time for her to be so stagnant, I would've liked to see her get up to more zanier things in her career or bring up her family more. It seemed just that she was stuck, which I guess was the point but it started to wear on the book for sure. She was also selfish and a coward and I guess she went through her transition at the end... but it was just too long in coming.

Fiona was pretty flat as a character. Used as a device to prolong the inevitable of Olivia getting together with her love interest. I liked that they stayed friends even with their whole drama, but I didn't like that Fiona, even though she eventually got a "decided" career, was still not really fleshed out. Liam also deserved better. Overall it was a fun cute read that if try not to hate Olivia is pretty satisfying. I liked the ending, it was fun and I'm glad it wasn't Hamish.

This book was written in such a new and unique way! The story centers on February 4th from 2003 to 2013.

The story begins on 2-4-13 with Olivia at the coffee shop Mugs and Shots. She is employed as a greeting card writer but is working on her own screenplay. She meets an unnamed man and vows to meet back on this date in 10 years

Each chapter starts on the following year of February 4th and the reader hears about what has been happening in Olivias life and those around her.

I really enjoyed the characters of Fiona and Liam. Fiona is her best friend and is always encouraging Olivia throughout this 10 year period. Liam was a friend/boyfriend who was also memorable. My favorite is his part in the coffee shop with, "isn't it ironic" I also loved all of the mentions of pop culture in the book.

You will also look forward to finding out what will happen on February 4, 2013.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The opinions are my own.

Such a good book by Bethany Turner.

Things I loved:
How the friendships were woven throughout the entire book. They felt real, they had misunderstandings but you could feel the love they had for the other no matter what they went through.
The humour as only Bethany can write. And the sadness you felt as they characters struggled.
That the book took place in California but it took you to other locations as well - Boston and Italy and France.
The uniqueness of writing the story on the same day every year.

What I didn't like:
There was no mention of God, church, praying, etc which I know would bother some of the patrons at our church library. I still thoroughly enjoyed the book but would not have been able to tell that it was written by a Christian author for a Christian audience if I didn't "know" Bethany through FB and that Thomas Nelson is a Christian publisher.

All that to say, I'd highly recommend the book as a clean story and will reread it as I really loved Liam and Olivia.

I admit I definitely picked this book up because of it's cover. I really liked that each chapter was the same date but a year later, and I enjoyed the time period (2003-2013). The main characters drove me completely crazy at times, but I was drawn to them and devoured the book to see how their story would resolve.

PLOT TWIST by BETHANY TURNER is a delightful read and one I highly recommend for the great story, unforgettable characters and the humour throughout.
The protagonist, Olivia Ross, is a thirty year old wannabee playwright who meets a stranger, who seems to be a small time actor with ambition, in a coffee bar on the 4th February. They sense something between them and arrange to meet at the same place in ten years time with her having written a play for him. Every year, as Olivia's life unravels and becomes more and more complicated, she dreads the 4th February which has become an "ironic" day for her, full of unexpected happenings. Her life slips by, with her making hard choices that lead to her keeping secrets from her two best friends, Fiona and Liam.
I will not tell you any more for fear of spoiling the read for you. I loved the novel and recommend it highly.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Thomas Nelson. The opinions in this review are completely my own.